Animal trap



Aug. 15, 1933.

W. L. THADA ANIMAL TRAP Filed May 20, 19752 INVENTOR 7K1 Tlrada,

ATTORNEY WITNESSES JJM Patented Aug 15, 1933 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE ANIMAL TRAP Walter L. Thada, Klemme, Iowa Application May 20, 1932. Serial No. 612,576 Claims. (cl. 43-97) This invention relates to improvements in anithe largest part of the trap insofar as its plan mal traps, and its objects are as follows:- aspect is concerned, and if the base will fit in a First, to provide an animal trap in which the selected location it becomes self-evident that the stationary and movable walls combine to form rest of the trap will fit assuming, of course, that. ,5 a closed runway when the trap is set. there is enough vertical space to accommodate Second, to hinge one of the side walls to the the height of the trap. companion side wall at a point near the top of Flanges 6 bent inwardly at right angles from the trap and above the detent, this arrangement the stationary side wall 3 provide places on which enabling a mere pressing together of the upper similar flanges 7 on the movable side wall 2are 1o extremity oi the trap to accomplish its setting, pivoted by means of a cross pin 8. This cross 65 which act is accomplished simultaneously with pin provides a convenientmount for the coils of the placing of thetrap in the selected position. a spring 9 which is for the purpose of closing Third, to provide a trap in which the trigger the trap when sprung. The free ends 10, ll mechanism isset automatically by the act of embranch off from. the spring 9 atopposite sides of i placing the trap. a the, cross pin 8, the end 10 which comes nearest 7 Fourth, to provide an adjustable trigger mechto the observer in Figure 3 beingpartially denoted anism in which the tension of the trap may be by broken lines because it extends into a zone varied so that the trap may be sprung accordin front of the general plane on which the section ing to any one of a limitedrange of pressures. is'taken. The end 10 presses outwardly against Other objects and advantages will appear in the jaw 2 at a place above the pivot 8 (Fig. 2) 75 the following specification, reference being had and thus tends to close the jaw, 2. i

to the accompanying drawing in which 4 A trigger mechanism comprises parts now to Figure 1 is a perspective View of the animal be described, these consisting of a number of detrap in its set position. pressions 12 (Fig. 3) any one of which is adapted t Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line to receive the free end 11. These depressions are so 2--2 of Figure 1. formed in a crank or oiiset. 13 in the pivot rod'll .Figure 3 is a vertical section taken substanof the trigger mechanism; The purpose of the tially on the line 33 of Figure 2. plurality of depressions. 12 is to vary the spring In carrying out the invention provision ismade tension so that the trap may be sprung accordof a body, generally denoted 1, which comprises ing to any one of a range of pressures which is a movable side wall 2, a companion stationary limited by the number of depressions. Inasmuch": side wall 3, a base 4 and a guard wall 5. The i as the depressions are distributed over the side of walls 2 and 3 comprise the jaws of the trap,the the offset 13 it will presently appear that the wall 2 being the movable jaw and the wall 3 the springtension is lessened as the end 11 is set 35 stationary jaw. The foregoing parts of the body in depressions nearer to the rod 14. 90

are usually constructed of sheet metal of a suit- A wire bent into the general shape of a hook able gauge, bent into such forms that when they (Fig.2) is soldered or otherwise permanently seare assembled the trap assumes roughly a curedto the rod 14 as at 15, the bent components pyramidal shape. of this wire constituting a detent 16' and a trip Figures 1 and 2 plainly show how the foregoing support 17. The detent is notched at 18 for theY95" walls combine to form what has been called a purpose of catching the bottom edge of a slot 19 closed runway. The runway is closed in the sense near the upper end of the movable jaw 2 w hen the that its sides are closed, forming a central tunnel trap is in the set position. The nether side of the through which the animal is induced to run. detent 16 is bevelled at its free extremity as at Rodents, especially, have a tendency to seek 20 to provide a cam against which the bottom edge 100 narrow runways, and inasmuch asthe trap farm of the slot 19 moves in the act of setting the trap vides such a runway the rodents will be induced for the purpose of putting the spring 9 under a to runthrough it whencrowded into a corner or superficial tension and lowering the trip 21 from other tight place, and it will not always be necesits unset position (dotted lines, Fig. 2) to its set sary to bait the trap because the trip (later deposition (full lines, Fig. 2). 10 scribed) is placed in such an obstructing posi- This trip has a forked part bent over'the T-end tion in the runway that it is bound to be stepped 22 of the support 17 to provide a pivotal suspenupon. sionfor the trip. 'A shoulder 23, formed in the The various walls'2, 3 and 5 taper upwardly various bends of the trip, acts as a fulcrum for and inwardly from the base 4, The base is thus the trip. The adjacent wall 3 serves as the abut- 0 g ment against which the fulcrum is pressed by the end 11 of the spring 9 and on which the trip turns when the support 17 is urged to the full line position (Fig. 2) in the foregoing act of setting.

A tine 24 struck up from the trip 21 provides a convenient bait holder. It is not always necessary to bait the trap because the trip 21 extends crosswise of the runway in such a position that an animal moving through is bound to contact it and spring the trap. An adjacent part 25 of the trip which completes the trigger mechanism is engageable with a stop 26, bent inwardly from the guard wall 5, for the purpose of limiting the upward swing of the trip to the unset position. The main purpose of the stop 26 is to provide something to press the trip 21 up against by finger pressure beneath the trip when forcing the bait onto the tine 2 1 preparatory to setting the trap. The engagement of the pivotal suspension 22 with the wall 3 limits the upward swing of the trip, but if this engagement were relied upon when to sing the bait on it is likely that the trip would be bent out of shape at the fulcrum 23.

There is an opening 27 inthe bottom of the jaw 2 large enough to clear the free end of the trip 21 and its carried bait. It is through this opening that the stop 26 projects when the trap is set. outwardly bent curvatures 28, 29 or otherwise escrioed formations, at the upper extremities of the respective jaws 3, provide convenient fingerholds which enable the setting of the trap by a merepressing together. These curvatures are taken hold of in emplacing the trap in the selected location, and as the trap is en.- placed the curvatures are pressed inwardly so as to simultaneously set the trap.

The operation is. readily understood. When the trap is in its unset position the movable side wall or jaw assumes the dotted line position-in Figure 2. The part 25 of the trip 21 is up against the stop 26, and if it is intended to bait the trap the user will insert a finger under the trip and press it against the stop 26 while forcing the bait onto the tine 24.

Having baited the trap the user takes hold of the curvatures 28, 29preparatory to emplacing the trap in the selected location. The trap is set by a more pressing together of theupper extremities, and the act of setting is accomplished simultaneously with the act of crnplacing the trap. In

" pressing the extremities 28, 29, together the lower edge of the slot 19 will approach the bevel 20 of the detent 16. The resulting cam action raises the detent a little, gives the pivot rod 14 a fractional turn and swings the trip support 17 in-' wardly from the dotted line position to the full line position in Figure 2. At the same time the trip 21 is lowered by virtue of its rocking on its fulcrum 23, and the spring 9 is put under a slight superficial tension which is maintained as long as the notch 18 retains the lower edge of the slot. 19.

The greatest superficial tension is made to manifest itself when the spring end 11 is set in the depression 12 in the deep part or the offset 13. This is so because there is a greater amount of inward movement of the part of'the offset on the foregoing fractional turn of the pivot rod 14 than there is of other parts of the offset nearer to the rod. Therefore, if the spring end 11 is set in the depression nearest to the rod, the superficial tension of the spring will be least of all.

When the spring end 11 is set as last stated,

only a very light pressure on the trip 21 will spr g the trap. When the spring end 11 is set in the deep end of the offset 12 a slightly greater pressure on the trip 21 will be required.

There is no danger of inadvertently springing the trap during the act of emplacing it, because the same finger grip which is necessary to hold the trap serves to do the setting and to keep the trap set. From this it will be understood that it is unnecessary for the user to insert his fingers in the trap when setting it. Should it be desired to release the'trigger mechanism, the user has only to press upon the exposed end of the detent 16.

The trapped animal is released by simply taking hold of and pressing in on the fingerholds 28, 29 and turning the trap sidewise. When the jaws opened the animal will fall out.

I claim:

1. A trap comprising a base, a guard and a fixed jaw in spaced relationship on the base, a movable jaw and means by which it is pivoted to the fixed jaw, resilient means tending to swing the movable jaw to a closed position against the fixed jaw, and trip mechanism for holding the movable jaw open against the guard, said jaws being in upstanding relationship to the base and combinin to form a closed runway, a portion of trigg mechanism being accessible from said runwa 2. A trap comprising apair of movably connected jaws, trigger mechanism carried by one of the jaws including a detent to engage the other jaw and hold the jaws separated, resilient means putting both the trigger mechanism and one of jaws under tension, and means for adjusting the tension of said resilient means as applied to the trigger mechanism.

3. A trap comprising a pair of movably connected jaws, a trigger mechanism including a detent for holding one of the jaws in an open position and including a' rod by which said mechanism is mounted on the other jaw, said rod having an offset with depressions between the deep part. of the ciiset and the rod, and resilient means pu ing both the trigger mechanism and said one jaw under tension, said resilient means including an end which is settable in any one of the depressions to vary the applied tension to the trigmechanisrn. I

4. In a trap, a base, a wall and a guard each upstanding from opposite sides of the base, a tr er mechanism pivotally suspended from the we.-- and including a trip crossing the base toward the guard and having a tine for the emplacement or the bait, and a stop on the guard against which the trip is pressible by a finger inserted between. the trip and the base preparatory to cmpling the bait, thus sustaining the trip and p. eventing bending of partsv of the trigger mechanism. I Y

5. In a trap, a stationary wall, a trigger mechanism including a pivot rod having a trip support disposed beside the wall, a trip pivotally connected with said support and having a shoulder loosely contacting the wall to act asa fulcrum, a movable jaw coacting with the stationary wall and having a slot, resilient means against the tensionof. which said jaw movable to a set position, and a detent included in said mechanism to engage an edge of the slot for holding the jaw in the set position, said detent having a bevelled extremity engageable by the slot edge with a camaction for actuating the trigger mechanism to swing the trigger on its fulcrum into a set position.

WALTER L. THADA. 

